Once upon a (recent) time in a land not too far from here, there was a very conservative and financially
successful businessman and his wife. They lived in a huge, four story mansion and all the luxuries money could buy.
The couple was known everywhere for their strict political and religious views, but they were also known for doing
wonderful things for various charities. Eventually, they started feeling like something was missing from their lives.
One day the man said to his wife, “I think it’s time we started a family. It would be nice to have a son or daughter to
share all of this wealth with.”
His wife agreed that she would like children too, but was a little apprehensive about raising a child in
modern-day America with all it’s crime, pollution, and fading morals. The man reassured his wife that no son or
daughter of his would be rebellious.
“He or she will surely see that our views on religion and politics are the best ones. Our little one will grow up
learning our values, so what else could he or she believe?”
“I suppose you are right, dear.” said his wife.
The couple went about attempting to become pregnant and in a year’s time, they had a brand new son,
whom they decided to name Decklin.
Decklin had a rather happy childhood and always had the best things that money could buy. He went to
exclusive schools, had the best toys, and went on the most amazing vacations with his parents. Decklin also loved his
parents very much and idolized his father. He would try to mimic everything his father did and repeated many of the
things his father often said. His parents and their friends and family found this charming. People would often say how
much Decklin looked and acted like his father. Both parents were very proud of their son.
The years went by and Decklin went off to high school. His mother remembered the worries she felt before
her son was born. She knew that her son inherited much of his father’s personality, but she knew that her son was
also very smart and capable of forming his own opinions. But, since Decklin had always obeyed his father, she figured
she had nothing to worry about.
Decklin’s first two years of high school exposed him to many things he had never seen before. He started
getting really into the indie music scene and used his extensive allowance to buy an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar
and an amp. He snuck it into his room and only played it when his parents were out, for fear that they would find out
and disapprove of his changing lifestyle.
On the Internet, Decklin chatted with a few kids from his area every night. His favorite person to talk to was
a girl named Salem who lived in the next town. She introduced him to all sorts of ideas about music, politics,
philosophy, and different religions. They talked for hours at a time. She played bass in a local band called The
Disenchanted. Decklin was very interested in seeing them play and vowed that one night he would sneak out and
attend one of their shows.
One night, towards the end of the school year, Decklin waited until his parents were asleep and crept out the
back door and down the block to where his friend Jennifer was waiting for him in her car. He knew his parents would
ground him for life if they found out, but he was too curious about The Disenchanted, and their amazing bass player.
Seeing the band play and meeting Salem for the first time in real life, along with seeing the interaction of the kids at
the show made something click in his mind. This was where he belonged! After the show, when he was safely back at
home in his bed, Decklin decided that he was going to do everything he could to be the person HE wanted to be, not
the person his parents wanted him to be.
Over the next few weeks, Decklin began slowly changing his outward appearance. He bought baggier
clothes, dyed his hair, and started growing a goatee. His parents were horrified at this new side of their son. In their
eyes, all of Decklin mother’s fears were coming true. One night, in a panicked rage, Decklin’s father barged into his
son’s bedroom and demanded that he shave his goatee or he would be grounded for the entire summer. In a
moment of bravery, Decklin stood up to his father and refused to do as he wished. “Just because I look and think
differently than you do, it doesn’t mean that my opinions are invalid and it doesn’t mean that I have caused harm to
myself or anyone else!” he shouted back.
This pushed his father over the edge, “That’s it! You’re grounded!”
And with that, he slammed the door behind him and locked and dead-bolted the door from the outside.
Decklin was trapped! He was a prisoner in his own room!
He flopped on his bed and started to weep. Had he made a mistake? Should he have done as his father
ordered? No! of course not! He should stick to his beliefs! Decklin head was spinning with all of these thoughts. He
loved his parents very much and had never disobeyed them until this year. But at the same time, he wanted some
freedom and he wanted the liberty to have ideas of his own.
He felt a breeze on his face and looked up to see that his window was open. He went over to shut it and
looked down at the ground, three stories below. “No way out, I’m stuck,” he thought to himself.
Suddenly, Decklin got an idea. He flipped on his computer and logged online. Sure enough, Salem was also
online. He explained his story and together they devised a plan to get Decklin out of his situation.
The plan was that Salem would sneak over to Decklin’s house every night and get the ladder that the
mansion’s staff used to clean the upper story windows. She’d place the ladder at Decklin’s window so he could climb
down and they’d go to shows, or get coffee at the local 24-hour cafe, or just drive around until the sun started to rise.
Then she’d bring him back to his house and he’d climb up the ladder and into bed like nothing had ever happened.
The plan went smoothly the whole summer and they never got caught. During their nightly outings, Salem
taught Decklin all about music; not just rock and punk music, but about all kinds: jazz, classical, big band, and even
Celtic. She opened his eyes to poetry, art, history, literature, and many, many philosophies from many different
cultures. They talked about what was wrong with the world, and how they could change it. Decklin learned more in
that summer than he ever had in his entire sheltered life.
When the summer was over, Decklin’s parents softened and decided to give their son another chance. They
decided that in order to gain their son’s respect, that maybe they should get to know who he really is. So they made
sure to eat dinner together every night and talk about whatever was on their minds. They came to realize that their
son knew much much more about the world than they had thought. “You are truly a mature man, my son,” said his
father, “We may not see eye to eye on a lot of issues, but you have much to offer the world and I will always be proud
of you.”
Decklin and his parents had a great relationship from then on. They never did find out how their son learned
all that he knew, and Decklin thought it was best that way. Salem and Decklin were great friends for a long long time,
until The Disenchanted broke up and she moved on to another town to form another band. They kept in contact over
the Internet for awhile, but eventually drifted apart. But he never forgot the important lesson that she taught him.
